Teaching & Learning

Massachusetts' History and Social Studies Debate Resurfaces

From the establishment of the Puritan colonies to the Boston Tea
Party, from its role in the Civil War to the Sacco-Vanzetti trial and
beyond, the history of Massachusetts is rife with conflict and
controversy. So it might be fitting that the state's history/social
science framework continues to inspire perhaps the most criticism of
any core subject in Massachusetts since the state began implementing
its system of standards and accountability in 1993.

The framework went through months of debate before it was adopted in
1997. During the development of the broad outline of what students
should learn in those subjects at various grade levels, proponents of a
traditional approach to the subject battled those advocating a more
multicultural view of history. ("With Vote Set, Mass. Board Still at
Odds Over History Standards," June 11, 1997.)

Now, as the guidelines go through the first periodic review required
by state law, some critics are contending the proposed revisions
shortchange the history of African-Americans and Hispanics.

The state board of education has received more than 700 comments on
the proposed framework from teachers, community leaders, researchers,
and the general public. Some of those comments criticize the document
as reflecting a Eurocentric view of history.

Several black leaders and groups, including the Boston chapter of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a
prominent city councilor in Boston, are protesting what they see as the
Eurocentric slant.

Heidi Perlman, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts education
department, disputes claims that the curricular blueprint gives such
issues as slavery or Islamic history short shrift.

"We went through the framework to look at the very specific charges
against [it], and they are false," Ms. Perlman maintained. "The problem
is very simple. ... Everyone believes their ancestry and history needs
to be in there. It is impossible to fit it all."

After the public comments are reviewed and some changes are made,
the state board hopes to discuss the new framework and possibly vote on
it later this spring.

What to Teach?

Despite the development and implementation of a state system of
standards and accountability over nearly a decade, a recent study
suggests that some new teachers in Massachusetts aren't getting
coherent curricular materials to help them prepare students to meet the
higher expectations.

More than half the 50 first- and second-year teachers in the study
reported that while they were given a curriculum that prescribed
specific topics or skills to be taught, they received no instructional
materials or guidance for addressing them. Ten of the respondents said
they received no curriculum at all.

The study, "Lost at Sea: New Teachers' Experiences With Curriculum
and Assessment," is published in the Spring 2002 issue of the journal
Teachers College Record. It was written by David Kauffman, Susan
Moore Johnson, Susan M. Kardos, Edward Liu, and Heather G. Peske,
researchers at Harvard University's Project on the Next Generation of
Teachers.

"These new teachers often were overwhelmed by the responsibility and
demands of designing curriculum and planning daily lessons," the report
says. "They entered the classroom expecting to find a curriculum with
which they would struggle. Instead, they struggled to find a
curriculum."

To make up for the lack of resources, the teachers reported
searching the Internet, photocopying other teachers' lessons, and
spending their own money on materials.

While small, the study reflects previous findings and confirms
anecdotal information that novice teachers get little support on
matters of curriculum, according to Kathleen J. Skinner, who oversees
professional-development programs for the Massachusetts Teacher
Association, a National Education Association affiliate.

"Most teachers want to know what's the content that they are
expected to teach in the course of the year," said Ms. Skinner. "How
they teach it is an individual thing."

Her own study two years ago of a representative sampling of
mathematics teachers found that most districts in the state did not
provide curriculum materials in the subject.

Salary Stagnation?

Public school teachers experienced only a slight gain in their
salaries over the past decade, despite a mostly booming economy,
asserts a report published by the NEA.

Teacher pay increased an average of 31 percent from 1991 to 2001,
the "Rankings & Estimates" report says. When adjusted for
inflation, however, that increase dropped to a mere 3 percent,
researchers for the teachers' union found.

On average, between 1991 and 2000, full-time workers 16 and older
saw their weekly wages increase by 9 percent after adjustments for
inflation were made, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Meanwhile, the average U.S. teacher's salary for the 2001-02 school
year was estimated at $44,604, up from $43,335 the previous year, a 2.9
percent increase.

"As more money was invested in public education, teacher salaries
remained stagnant—all while the U.S. was in the biggest economic
expansion in its history," NEA President Bob Chase said in a statement
accompanying the release of the annual report this month.

New Jersey, Connecticut, and California offered the best pay, while
Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota offered the lowest
salaries, the report says. Wyoming, New Mexico, and Nebraska had the
highest percent increases from 2000-01 to 2001-02.

Getting Support

Job prospects for paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers,
and other school support-staff members are promising, but those who
take such positions receive low pay, little respect, and overwhelming
workloads, a report concludes.

The 1.2 million-member AFT, which represents 184,800 support
personnel, examined that category of school worker for its report, "It
Takes a Team: A Profile of Support Staff in American Education."

The report outlines the hourly wages and annual earnings of school
secretaries, library personnel, technicians, janitors, and clerks,
among others, and says that pay for such jobs during the 1999-2000
school year was higher in the Far West and New England than in other
regions. Those who work in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions
received the lowest earnings.

One constant, though, was the amount of work such employees do.

Eighty-seven percent of the 224 workers surveyed for one part of the
study reported that they were expected to complete "unrealistic"
workloads; 38 percent reported that the problem had been growing for
five years. Most employers respond by authorizing overtime rather than
hiring additional help, the respondents said.

"Paraprofessionals have a specific set of concerns about workload,"
the report points out. "In too many instances, [they] are put in
positions they did not ask for and are not trained for—working as
substitute teachers."

In addition, standards, professional development, and certification
for support-staff are either nonexistent or lax, while the demand for
such workers is growing, the study found.

The market is especially strong for paraprofessionals, as the
enrollment of special-needs students increases, and new school
improvement initiatives are put in place that require the efforts of
such individuals.

"Keeping high-quality employees in our schools and colleges means
creating high-quality jobs for those who fill these important roles,"
the report says.

Union Ban

Neither the American Federation of Teachers nor any of the union's
affiliates is entitled to represent the more than 5,000 professional,
nonfaculty employees working at Maryland's public colleges and
universities, according to a recent ruling by the AFL-CIO, the union's
umbrella organization.

An internal panel of the mammoth labor federation decided last month
that the Washington-based American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees had already laid claim to the institutions, said Ed
Phaneuf, a spokesman for AFT-Maryland. According to the AFL-CIO
constitution, member unions can't compete with each other, he said.

The decision was "very disappointing," he said, because the
teachers' union was trying to regain its one-time presence on college
campuses. A few years ago, some 600 higher education employees were
affiliated with AFT-Maryland; today, fewer than 10 are, Mr. Phaneuf
said.

The issue arose when the AFT affiliate began to organize individuals
at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore following the enactment of
a state law last July that permits unionization within those ranks, he
said.

The 14,000-member AFT-Maryland represents mostly K-12 workers.

From Grants to Pets

An online Web site designed specifically for educators and stocked
with such offerings as lesson plans and more than 100 chat boards will
now include resources specific to every state in the nation.

The 6-year-old site, Teachers.net, began providing hyperlinks to
state and District of Columbia resources last month, according to its
designers. By logging on to http://teachers.net/states, educators
can also sign up to correspond with colleagues from around their states
on chat boards or during real-time online meetings.

In addition to the state resources, Teachers.net offers advice on
matters ranging from writing grant proposals to keeping classroom
pets.

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